Music-leaf turner.



W. M. GRAMER.

MUSIC LEAF TURNER.

APPLICATION FILED IAN.24,1913.

1,084,794. Patented Jau. 20,1914.

*A i Y I Y 4' gvwemoz l Wmtam Mmmer LuMxA PLANouRAPH C0., WASHINGTON, D.c.

W. M. CRAMER.

MUSIC LEAF TURNER. v

APPLICATION FILED JAN.24,1913.

Patented J an. 20, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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@9i/human coLUMBlA PLANOGRAPH co..\vAsH|NaTON, D. c.

W. M. CRAMER.

MUSIC LEAF TURNER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.24,1913.

l1,O81=,-'794. Patented .12.11.20, 1914.

. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3. F1 E u. n m

.3| um' nf noeutoz W. M. GRAMER.

MUSIC LEAP TURNER.

APPLICATION IILBD JAN.24,1913.

Patented J an. 20, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

W M A W WH l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM M. CRAMER, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

MUSIC-LEAF TURNER.

Application led January 24, 1913.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVILLIAM M. CRAMER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Music-Leaf Turners; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in music leaf turners.

One obj ect of the invention is to provide a music leaf turner having animproved construction and arrangement of leaf engaging devices andimproved means for independently swinging said devices and the leaveswith which they are engaged to the left or right for reading and playingor repeating the music thereon and to simultaneouslyT swing the entireseries of devices and leaves to the right for closing the book.

Another object of the invention is to provide a music leaf turner havingan improved adjustable means for holding the book leaves in position tobe engaged and operated by the leaf turning mechanism.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction, and the combination and arrangement ofparts as will be more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a front view of my improvedleaf turner constructed and arranged for use as a music stand; Fig. 2 isa vertical sectional view thereof taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. l; Fig.3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4is a similar view taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. l; Fig. 5 is ahorizontal sectional view through the lower portion of the stand takenon the line 5 5 of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is an enlarged front view of a portionof the leaf engaging and turning mechanism illustrating the manner inwhich these parts operate for turning the leaves of the book; Fig. 7 isa detail perspective view of the upper portion of one of the leafturning members; Fig. S is a similar view of one of the leaf engagingdevices and the upper portion of one of the music leaves showing in fulland dotted lines the manner in which the parts of these devices areoperated to grip the leaves; Fig. 9 is a rear perspective view of themusic book or leaf Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 20, '1914.

Serial No. 744,052.

supporting bar; Fig. 10 is a similar view of one of the removable frontcover plates of the casing containing the leaf turning mechanism; Fig.1l is a detail perspective view of the upper end of the supporting plateof the device and the inner ends of the leaf turning arms, showing moreparticularly the means for yieldingly holding the latter in theiradjusted positions; Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a modifiedconstruction of the turner for use on pianos or organs.

My improved leaf turner comprises a casing which may be of any suitablesize and shape and which is adapted to be applied to a music stand or toa piano or organ as will be hereinafter more fully described.

Referring more particularly to the form of the invention as applied to amusic stand l denotes the casing which is secured to the upper end of astandard 2, the lower end of which is attached to a base frame 3 whichis here shown as comprising three suitably braced legs 4 which arearranged in tripod form and between the front pair of which is securedupper and lower cross bars 5 and 6.

Arranged in front of and spaced a suitable distance from the base frame3 is a pedal supporting frame comprising a cross bar 7 to the ends ofwhich are connected legs 8, said cross bar being connected at its endsto the legs of the base frame 3 by brace bars 9 as shown.

The casing l has arranged therein a` supporting plate or board l0 whichis secured thereto and to the upper end of the standard in any suitablemanner and on which is mounted the operating mechanism of the device.The bottom of the casing 4l is preferably extended or projectedoutwardly on opposite sides of the center thereof to form a rest ll uponwhich, if desired, music leaves or books may be supported when not inuse. The front side of the casing is preferably in the formk of twohorizontally movable plates l2 which are slidably engaged at their upperand lower edges with guide flanges lf3 on the upper and lower ends ofthe casing, whereby said plates may be slipped outwardly in oppositedirections for opening the front of the casing. he plates l2 arerecessed and bent outwardly at the upper ends of their inner portions toprovide space for the upper portion of the leaf turning mechanism andleaf engaging devices. On the outer edges of the front plates l2 of thecasing are lateral extensions 14 which form handles whereby the plates12 may be readily'actuated for opening and closing the casing.

On the upper end of the supporting plate 10 is a horizontally disposedoutwardly extending bearing block 15 having therein a series of verticalbearing apertures 16 in which are pivotally mounted the right angularinner ends or shanks 17 of a series of leaf turning arms 18, the outerends of which' are turned downwardly and outwardly to form stationaryleaf engaging fingers 19. The lower ends of the shanks 17 project asuitable distance below the bearing block 15 and are flattened to formoffset heads 20 the purpose of which will be hereinafter described.Secured to the arms 1S near their outer ends are upwar lly projectingfinger supporting brackets 21 in which are pivotally secured the innerends of movable leaf engaging fingers 227 the outer ends of which arecurved downwardly for engagement with the opposite sides of the leavesfrom that with which the stationary fingers 19 are engaged therebygripping the leaves between said stationary fmgers 19 and the movablefingers 22. The lingers 22 project forwardly from the brackets 21through upwardly extending slotted guide plates 23. In the slots of theguide plates 23 midway between their ends are formed stop lugs 2l withthe lower ends of which the fingers 22 are engaged when in an operativeposition or in engagement with the leaves. Vhen in an inoperativeposition the fingers 22 are engaged with and supported on the upper endsof the lugs 2&1-, The fingers 22 are retracted or swung upwardly out ofengagement with the leaves when disengaged from the lower ends of thelugs 2st by coiled springs 25 which are connected to the inner portionof said ngers and to the upper ends of the brackets 21 as clearly shownin Fig. 8 of the drawings.

The leaf turning arms 18 are operated or swung in one direction forsuccessively moving the leaves of the book to the left as when the musicis being read and played by a series of right hand turning devices ofwhich there may be any desired number, each of which comprises atriangular or wedge shaped plate 26 the upper edge of which is inclinedor formed at an angle from the inner lower corner of the plate towardthe upper outer corner thereof as shown. The plates 26 are secured attheir outer ends to the upper ends of a series of operating rods 27which extend downwardly through the bottom of the casing and areconnected at their lower ends to the inner encs of series of foot levers28 which are pivoted in suitable bearing brackets on the cross bar 7 ofthe treadle frame secured to the base 3 of the standard 2 and which areprovided on their outer ends with foot treadles or pedals 29, wherebythe levers may be actuated for projecting or forcing the rods 27 and theplates 26 thereon upwardly into operative engagement with the arms 18,whereby the latter and the leaves with which they are engaged are swungto the left and the leaves thus successively turned. The rods 27 andplates 26 are retracted and the levers 28 and pedals 29 are released bycoiled springs 30 which a rc connected to the inner ends of the leversand to the lower cross bar 6 of the base frame $3. The rods 27 areslidably engaged near their upper ends with guide brackets 31 secured toa bracket supporting block 82 and near their lower ends said rods areslidably en gaged with guide brackets 33 secured to the upper cross bar5 of the base frame 8 as shown. Then thus constructed and arranged, itwill be seen that in order to turn the leaves of the book to the left orto open positions, it is simply necessary to depress the pedals 29 whichwill project the rods 27 and the wedge shaped plates 26, thereby entheinclined upper edges of the plates with the arms 1S which will swing thelatter to the left in the manner described.

ln order to swing the leaves back or to the right when it is desired torepeat the music thereon or to close the book ll provide a seriesl ofleft hand operating devices comprising wedge shaped plates 3lwhichcorrespond in size and shape to the plates 26 and which are secured tothe upper ends of operating rods The rods 35 are engaged with upper andlower guide brackets 36 and 37 corresponding to the brackets 31 and ofthe right hand operating devices and said rods are connected at theirlower ends to foot levers 38 arranged in the base frame l. and having ontheir outer ends pedals 3S) which correspend to the operating levers ofthe right hand turning devices. By successively operating the left handleaf turning devices each of the leaves may be successively turned backfor the purpose of repeating any of the music printed thereon and byoperatii'ig the outer left hand foot lever and leaf turning member theentire series of leaf turning arms and the leaves to which they areattached may be swung to the right thereby closing the book.

In order to prevent the leaf turning arms from operating too freely orfrom being swung around by the pressure of the leaves A,

to which they are attached as might occur from the tendency of theleaves of a new bock to close, and to impart a ln'aking act-ion on themovement of said arms, I provide a suitable braking mechanism comprisinga horizontally disposed brake bar fil-0 which is slidably mounted 'insupporting brackets 41 secured to the supporting plate 10 of the casingand which engages the l'lat heads 20 on the inner ends of the shanks 17i of the turning arms 18, said bar being projected and held in yieldingfrictional engagement with said heads by coiled springs 42 arrangedbetween the inner edges of said bar and the supporting plate 1() asshown.

Secured to the supporting plate 10 and spaced a suitable distancetherefrom by brackets 43 is a centrally disposed book supporting bar 44,said bar being disposed adjacent to the outer side of the front of thecasing as shown. Slidably mounted on the bar is a lower book supportingbracket 45 to which is secured a spring catch 46 which is adapted toengage a series of ratchet teeth 47 formed on the inner side of the bar44, whereby the bracket 45 is adjustably fastened to the bar 44 forengaging and supporting music books or leaves of different lengths. Onthe bracket 45 is arranged a loose leaf gripping device 48 which may beof any suitable construction, a corresponding or similarly constructedloose leaf gripping device 49 being arranged on the upper end of the bar44, whereby when music books having loose leaves are engaged with theleaf turner, they may be supported and the loose leaves securely held inposition to be turned by the leaf turning mechanism hereinbeforedescribed. On the upper end of the bar 44 are laterally projectingspring catches 50 which are adapted to engage the inner edges of thefront closing plates of the casing, whereby said plates are held inclosed position.

In Fig. 12 of the drawings my improved leaf turner is shown as beingconstructed for use in connection with a piano or organ, the turner inthis instance comprising a casing 51 constructed similar to the casing 1of the standard form of the turner. In this form of the device the frontplates 52 have their outer side edges slidably engaged with guideflanges whereby said plates may be opened upwardly instead of laterallyas in the first form of the invention. The casing 51 is secured inposition on the front of the piano or organ by supporting and attachingrods 53 which are pivotally attached at their inner ends to the rearside of the casing and extend rearwardly over the top of the piano andhave their outer ends bent downwardly to form hooks 54 which engage therear side of the upper port-ion of the piano or organ as clearly shownin the drawings.

The leaf gripping and turning devices of the piano engaging form of theinvention are constructed and arranged in the same manner as the leafgripping and turning devices shown in the first form of the inventionand a further description of these parts is not thought to be necessary.The leaf turning devices in the last form of the invention are providedwith operating rods 58 which terminate in the lower portion of thecasing and are pivotally connected at their lower ends with hand levers59. The levers 59 are pivotally mounted on a supporting block secured inthe lower portion of the casing, said levers being arranged one abovethe other and projecting through openings in the opposite sides of thecasing. On the outer ends of the levers are arranged keys 60 which areadapted to be depressed by the operator for actuating the levers andthrough the latter the leaf turning devices. The rods 58 and leafturning devices thereon are retracted when the operating levers 59 arereleased by means of a series of coiled springs 61 connected with thelower ends of said rods 58 and with a fixed part of the casing as shown.

Having thus particularly described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a music leaf turner, a bearing member, a series of leaf turningarms, Shanks carried by one end of said arms and having a pivotalengagement with said bearing member, leaf engaging lingers on the opposite ends of said arms, slotted guide plates secured to said fingers,brackets secured to said arms, movable leaf engaging fingers pivoted insaid brackets and having a sliding engagement with said slotted guideplates, stop lugs in the slots of said plates adapted to be engaged bysaid movable leaf engaging fingers whereby the latter are held inoperative and inoperative positions, retracting springs connecting saidmovable fingers and brackets, a. series of arm operating devices, andmeans for actuating said devices.

2. In a music leaf turner, a series of pivotally mounted leaf turningmembers, comprising arms, slianks on the inner ends of said arms, offsetheads on said Shanks, leaf engaging fingers on the opposite ends of saidarms, a braking mechanism comprising a yieldingly supported brake baradapted to be engaged by the offset heads on the shanks of said leafturning arms, a series of arm operating devices, and means for actuatingsaid devices.

3. A music leaf turner comprising a casing, a series of leaf turningarms pivotally mounted therein, leaf engaging devices carried by saidarms, a series of right and lefthand arm operating devices slidablymounted in the casing, said devices comprising arm operating plateshaving inclined upper arm engaging edges, operating rods connected attheir upper ends with said plates, and means connected with said rods,whereby the same and said arm operating plates are actuated for swingingsaid arms and thereby turning the leaves of the book to open and closedpositions.

4. A music leaf turner comprising a casing, a series of leaf turningarms pivotally mounted therein, leaf engaging devices carried by saidarms, a series of right and lefthand operating devices comprising plateshaving inclined upper edges adapted to engage said leaf turning arms,whereby the latter are swung in one direction or the other for turningsaid leaves to the left or right, operating rods slidably supported insaid casing and secured at their upp-er ends to said plates, operatinglevers connected with the lower ends of said rods, whereby the latterand said plates are projected for swinging said leaf turning arms,springs to retract said rods and plates when said levers are released,and means for holding the book in position on said casing.

5. A music leaf turner comprising' a casing, a series of leaf turningarms pivotally mounted therein,` said arms having shanks provided ontheir inner ends with offset heads, a series of wedge-shaped plateshaving inclined upper edges adapted to be engaged with said arms wherebythe latter are swung to the left or right for opening and closing theleaves of a book, a braking mechanism comprising a spring projectedplate slidably mounted in said casing and haring a yielding engagementwith said offset heads, and operating levers connected with said plateswhereby the latter are projected for turning said arms.

6. A music leaf turner comprising a casing, a series of leaf turningarms pivotally mounted therein, said arms having shanks provided ontheir inner ends with offset heads, spring retracted leaf engagingdevices carried by said arms, a series of arm operating devicescomprising wedge shaped plates having inclined upper edges adapted to beengaged with said arms, whereby the latter are swung to the left orright for opening and closing` the leaves of a book, a braking mechanismcomprising a` spring projected plate slidably mounted in said casing andhaving a yielding engagement with the heads of the Shanks of saidturning levers, whereby the latter are yieldingly held in position,operating rods connected with said leaf turning plates, operating leversconnected with said rods, whereby the latter and said plates areprojected for turning said arms, and a spring to retract said rods andarm operating plates when said levers are released.

ln testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

VILLIAM M. CRAMER.

'Vitnesses VILLIE HOFFMAN, H. C. BANKER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

